Louisiana fishermen, communities, and public interest organizations ask D.C. Circuit to halt harmful construction of Venture Global’s CP2 export LNG terminal and pipeline 

Dredging activities have already violated permits and damaged nearby fisheries.  

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Local fishermen, community members and leaders, and public interest organizations filed a motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit seeking to halt harmful construction of Virginia-based Venture Global’s massive Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and pipeline in southwest Louisiana. 

“We have been warning from the beginning that this project will harm our community and our livelihoods and now our warnings are coming true. This dredging risks permanently harming the way of life for Louisiana fisherfolk,” said James Hiatt, executive director of For a Better Bayou.  

“We urge the court to take these violations seriously and finally put people’s lives over corporate interests by stopping construction immediately.”   

The motion argues that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) unlawfully approved the project without adequately weighing its devastating impacts on coastal communities, commercial fisheries, and fragile ecosystems. Despite acknowledging the harms, FERC allowed Venture Global to begin dredging and other high-impact construction activities in the heart of a thriving fishery, threatening shrimp, crab, and oyster populations — and the livelihoods of the families who depend on them—all for export.  

“FERC has ignored the voices of Gulf Coast communities and rubber-stamped yet another LNG terminal that serves foreign markets at the expense of American fishermen and consumers,” said Megan Gibson, SELC Senior Attorney representing the fishermen and other petitioners. “Our clients are facing irreparable harm — once a shrimping season is lost, these family businesses may never recover.” 

“This project should have never been allowed to move forward but recent construction activities already harming the area—as we have been telling FERC for years would happen – are even further reason that construction should be shut down.”  

On August 4, 2024, dredged sediment spilled out of containment and caused unplanned harm to at least 260 acres of marsh. According to reporting, this spill “buried crab traps, oyster beds, and killed wildlife in the area.” If construction is allowed to continue more harm could occur, including the planned modification or destruction of 1,400 acres of wetland.  

“Venture Global’s CP2 LNG project has already caused significant damage to the sensitive environment and resources of southwest Louisiana, and is on track to cause even more irreparable damage during this litigation,” Rebecca McCreary, Staff Attorney with Sierra Club Environmental Law Program. “Organizations and impacted landowners have long spoken out about the anticipated impacts from this project and sadly we are seeing many of these harms come to fruition.” 

“In approving this project, FERC is putting fossil fuel company profits over the livelihood of fishermen who have lived and worked in this region for generations,” said Gillian Giannetti, NRDC Senior Attorney and Director of Fossil Strategy. “The construction of LNG terminals in the Calcasieu Ship Channel poses an irreversible and unacceptable threat to communities in Louisiana.”